JAKARTA - Discord is preparing to change the face of its platform. Starting March 2026, the popular communication application will implement a new policy that will set all user accounts as teen accounts by default, unless users are willing to undergo an age verification process that is considered invasive by some parties.
This policy was announced by Discord on Monday, February 9, as part of the launch of enhanced teen safety features. The company states that all new and existing users around the world will automatically receive a "teen-friendly" experience, including stricter communication settings, access restrictions to age-restricted rooms, and content filtering.
"All users will have a teen-appropriate experience by default, with the latest communication settings, access restrictions to age-gated spaces, and content filtering that maintains the privacy and meaningful connections that Discord is known for," the company wrote in its announcement.
The consequences are clear. Users who want to access sensitive content must prove that they are adults. The content in question includes channels, servers, application commands with age limits, to certain message requests.
For users who choose not to verify their age, Discord will impose a number of restrictions. Sensitive content will remain blurred and cannot be disabled. Access to channels and servers with age limits is closed. Direct messages from unknown people will go to a special box, without the option to change the settings. Users will also receive a warning when there is a friend request from an unknown account, as well as being banned from speaking in the stage feature in the server.
For age verification, Discord offers two methods. First, an age estimate through a video selfie that is processed on the device. Second, uploading official identity documents, such as a passport or driver's license, to a third-party vendor partner that works with Discord.
It is this second option that has triggered concerns. In October 2025, about four months ago, a major data leak occurred that allegedly made passport and driver's license photos of up to 2.1 million Discord users stolen by hackers. Discord said only about 70,000 users were affected, and confirmed that the incident did not attack their internal systems, but the systems of third-party customer service vendors, 5CA Systems. 5CA Systems itself declared itself innocent.
However, Discord again emphasized that this age verification process is safe and privacy-oriented. This claim was greeted with skepticism by some observers, who judged that the risk of identity data leaks was still too great to ignore.
Behind the controversy, Discord insists that its goal is to protect children. "Keeping children safe, especially on Discord, is a good thing," AppleInsider wrote in its review, adding that the difference between solving a problem and creating a new problem is now a major debate.
This Discord policy also reflects the new direction of the global internet. For years, lawmakers in the United States have been trying to find ways to pressure technology companies to be more responsible for the safety of children in the digital world. The latest effort is the App Store Accountability Act (ASAA) introduced in May 2025, although it has not yet passed at the federal level.
ASAA aims to give parents more tools to protect children online, by requiring age verification at the app store level. Although it has not yet come into effect nationwide, several states such as Utah and Louisiana have adopted similar rules. Meanwhile, Texas' efforts were temporarily blocked by a federal judge in December.
Apple and Google actually have their own child protection ecosystems. Apple, for example, provides a child account with strict controls, ranging from screen time limits, content restrictions, to filtering explicit apps and content. In iOS 26, Apple even simplifies the process of creating a child account, expanding the age rating, and adding communication limit settings. Google has a similar feature for parent-managed child accounts.
The problem is, all of these tools are optional and depend on parental initiative. This is the gap that encourages the government to want to take a bigger role.
For Discord, the challenge is more complex. This application is cross-platform, available on mobile phones, tablets, desktops, and browsers. This means that Discord cannot fully rely on Apple or Google's age verification system, especially for young users who access this service directly through the browser.
With this new policy, Discord is putting itself at the forefront of the debate between child safety, user privacy, and digital comfort. The Internet may be heading into a new, more controlled era, but for many users, the price to be paid is getting more expensive.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
